Japan: The Disaster Victim Certificate and Financial Aid

Japanese disaster victim certificate (risai shomeisho) paperwork on a desk with an official stamp

Japan: Disaster Victim Certificate (罹災証明書) and Financial Aid

Overview: the one document everything depends on

After a damaging earthquake or tsunami in Japan, almost every form of help — cash grants, temporary housing, tax relief, insurance processing, publicly funded demolition, utility waivers, school fee reductions — requires the same piece of paper first: the 罹災証明書 (risai shōmeisho, "disaster damage certificate"). It is issued by your municipality (市区町村, the city/ward/town/village office), not by the national government, not by police, and not by your insurer.

If you do only one administrative thing after the shaking stops and you are safe, it is this: photograph your damage before you clean up or repair anything, then apply for the certificate at your municipal office. People lose hundreds of thousands of yen every disaster by tidying up first — once debris is cleared and a wall is patched, the assessor cannot see what happened, and the damage grade (which sets every payment amount) comes back lower than the truth.

Legal basis: the certificate is defined in the Basic Act on Disaster Management (災害対策基本法) Article 90-2, which obliges municipalities to issue it without delay on request.

Step 1 — Photograph the damage before touching anything

Do this before cleanup, before a contractor tarps the roof, before you throw out ruined belongings. The assessor may not arrive for days or weeks; your photographs are the record of what they missed.

  1. All four exterior sides of the building, each photographed whole, from far enough back that the entire structure and the ground line are visible. Assessors need to see the building as a unit, not just a crack.
  2. The building with something for scale — stand a family member, a tape measure, or a standard item beside the damage.
  3. Close-ups of every crack, tilt, separation, and break, with a ruler or coin in frame for width. Cracks wider than roughly 3 mm matter far more than hairline ones.
  4. Interior damage room by room, wide shot first then close-ups: collapsed ceilings, cracked walls, broken fixtures, sheared tile, jammed doors (a door that no longer closes is evidence the frame racked).
  5. The waterline if flooded — photograph the mark on the wall with a tape measure showing height above floor, in every affected room. Flood grading depends heavily on depth above floor level.
  6. Damaged contents (家財) separately — appliances, furniture, futon, electronics — because contents can be assessed and insured separately from the building.
  7. Keep the originals with their timestamps intact. Do not crop or edit. Back them up off the phone if you can; phones are lost and broken in evacuations.

Step 2 — Understand the damage grades, because they set every amount

A municipal assessor performs a housing damage assessment (住家被害認定調査) and assigns a grade based on the proportion of the building's economic value lost. Cabinet Office (内閣府) guidance standardises these nationally:

GradeJapaneseLoss ratioRough meaning
Total collapse全壊50% or moreNot repairable, or repair is uneconomic
Large-scale half collapse大規模半壊40–50%Major structural repair needed to live there
Medium-scale half collapse中規模半壊30–40%Added in December 2020 as a new tier
Half collapse半壊20–30%Significant damage, habitable after repair
Quasi-half collapse準半壊10–20%Moderate damage
Partial damage一部損壊Under 10%Minor damage

Grades are the difference between receiving nothing and receiving ¥3,000,000. Understand which one you were given and why.

Step 3 — Apply, and use your right to a second survey

  1. Apply at your municipal office (many open dedicated disaster counters, and after large disasters they accept applications by post and online). Bring ID, your photographs, and the building address. There is normally an application deadline — often around three months after the disaster — so apply even if you are still displaced.
  2. A first survey (第一次調査) is usually an exterior-only inspection. It is fast and it systematically misses interior damage.
  3. If you disagree with the grade, you have the right to request a re-survey (第二次調査 / 再調査). This is the single most valuable thing most people do not know. The second survey includes the interior, and grades are frequently revised upward — a change from 半壊 to 大規模半壊 or 全壊 can be worth millions of yen. Request it in writing at the same office, and present your photographs and any contractor's assessment.
  4. Keep certified copies. Multiple agencies will each want one, and reissue takes time.

Step 4 — The money you may be entitled to

Livelihood Recovery Support Grant (被災者生活再建支援金)

Established by the Act on Support for Reconstructing Livelihoods of Disaster Victims (被災者生活再建支援法). This is the main cash grant, and it is not a loan and not taxable. It has two layers that stack:

Basic payment (基礎支援金) — for the damage itself: - 全壊 (total collapse): ¥1,000,000 - Home demolished because it was unsafe (解体): ¥1,000,000 - Long-term evacuation ordered (長期避難): ¥1,000,000 - 大規模半壊: ¥500,000

Additional payment (加算支援金) — for how you rehouse yourself: - Build or buy a home: ¥2,000,000 - Repair the existing home: ¥1,000,000 - Rent a home: ¥500,000

Maximum ¥3,000,000 (total collapse plus rebuild). Single-person households receive three quarters of each amount. Since December 2020, 中規模半壊 households receive the additional payment only, at reduced rates (build/buy ¥1,000,000, repair ¥500,000, rent ¥250,000).

Important: the Act only activates when a disaster crosses a defined scale threshold in your area. Ask your municipality whether it has been applied — do not assume.

Condolence and disability payments (災害弔慰金・災害障害見舞金)

Under the Act on Payment of Condolence Grant for Disasters (災害弔慰金の支給等に関する法律): - Death of a primary household earner: up to ¥5,000,000 - Death of another household member: up to ¥2,500,000 - Severe disability, primary earner: ¥2,500,000; other member: ¥1,250,000

Critically, this covers 災害関連死 (disaster-related death) — death caused by the aftermath rather than the event itself, such as illness worsened by shelter conditions, or a cardiac event during evacuation. These are formally recognised and compensated. See the shelter-life guide; in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, disaster-related deaths substantially exceeded deaths from the shaking itself. If a family member died weeks later from a condition traceable to the disaster, apply anyway — a municipal review board decides, and families routinely fail to apply because they assume it does not count.

Disaster relief loans (災害援護資金)

Low-interest municipal loans of up to ¥3,500,000 under the same Act, income-capped, for households with injury or housing damage. A loan, not a grant — but interest is very low and repayment deferment is normal.

Two different kinds of money, often confused

Tax relief

Two routes, and you may choose whichever is better for you: - Casualty loss deduction (雑損控除) — an income tax deduction under the Income Tax Act, deductible over multiple years if the loss is large. - Disaster reduction law (災害減免法) — direct reduction or exemption of income tax where damage reaches roughly half of household assets and income is below a threshold.

Also ask about waivers for national health insurance premiums, nursing-care insurance, pension contributions, water and utility charges, and school fees — municipalities routinely waive these after major disasters but usually only on application.

Step 5 — Practical order of operations

  1. Safety first, then photographs, then the certificate application.
  2. Open a file — physical or on your phone — and keep in it: the certificate, all photographs, receipts for everything (including hotel, transport, and supplies), contractor estimates, and the name and date of every official you speak to.
  3. Do not sign a repair contract before you understand your grade and your insurance position.
  4. Assume nothing is automatic. In the Japanese system almost every benefit requires an application, and deadlines are real.
  5. Use the free consultation counters (相談窓口) that open after major disasters — municipal offices, bar associations (弁護士会) offering free disaster legal advice, and the Japan Legal Support Center (法テラス, Hōterasu).

Quick reference

  1. Photograph before you clean. Four exterior sides, close-ups with scale, every room, waterline height.
  2. Apply for the 罹災証明書 at your city/ward office — it unlocks everything else.
  3. Know your grade (全壊 / 大規模半壊 / 中規模半壊 / 半壊 / 準半壊 / 一部損壊).
  4. Disagree? Request a second survey (第二次調査). Interior damage is often missed and upgrades are common.
  5. 被災者生活再建支援金: up to ¥1,000,000 basic + ¥2,000,000 additional = ¥3,000,000 max.
  6. 災害弔慰金: up to ¥5,000,000 for a primary earner's death — including disaster-related death weeks later.
  7. 支援金 and 義援金 are different. Apply for both.
  8. Ask about tax, insurance premium, and utility waivers — they are not automatic.
  9. Keep every receipt and a certified copy of every document.
  10. Free legal help exists: 法テラス and prefectural bar association disaster consultations.

Sources and legal basis

Amounts and eligibility bands are revised periodically and some payments depend on the disaster being formally designated. Treat the figures here as the structure to ask about, and confirm current amounts with your municipal office (市区町村役場) or 法テラス.